items #43 and #44: "concrete shoes, cyanide, TNT!"...FREE TICKETS.

playing catch up on hearts day.

this "swallowing diamonds" project has been so much fun and it's putting me in touch with humans I may never have had contact with.

this package, bursting with sticker-love, came to me from a previous winner on the blog- the lovely three-names Anthony.

even his choice of postage stamps: spot on!

a geniune moment that made me stop and hold my little red velvet heart in my hand... or as my British production manager used to say:

I got a tear in my glass eye.

So, I was remiss in posting yesterday, I was still in German guitar god heaven.

I got to spend a day on the Michael Schenker tour, he and his band of merry pirates played at House of Blues on Sunset. Epic evening. UFO has the ability to put me right back into my eighth grade room. Lights out in London!

Today's diamonds will be a pair of FREE tickets to see Back in Black, an AC/DC cover act, on Friday, Feb 28th.

AC/DC, I am such a Bon Scott girl. I do find myself humming "dirty deeds done dirt cheap.." far too often. (neckties...contracts...high voltage)

While in Australia, last year about this time, we went to the big AC/DC owned Cherry Bar, meow!

please only take these if you can use them. to win, tell me your favorite AC/DC song!

Reminder: ONLY TWO DAYS LEFT IN MY GIANT TOUR SWAG AUCTION. guitar picks, backstage passes, tshirts...

meanwhile, tonight, Husband is taking me to the very romantic oceanfront spot MOONSHADOWS in Malibu. (yes, the place where Mel Gibson had his meltdown...) May your hearts all be chocolate!

item #40: FREE TO GOOD HOME: a handmade red glitter magnet.

item #40:

Story of my life:

"Be scared and do it anyway."

if you are new to "swallowing diamonds", I've been making magnets and mirrors out of flood-damaged comics & printed materials for years. (now people send them in!)

They are for sale here on the Kitty's Treasures section of the soon-to-be-bye-bye Neverwear website.

The magnets and jewelry will go over to my Etsy page until I get the big website harnessed again.

To bring this to your home, tell me a story of something you were afraid of at first, and then did anyway. comment here or the Neverwear blog.

last night, I sold this beloved magnet to the lovely @cyndaelle:

a batch of 20 magnets are heading to ESCAPE POD COMICS in New York.

among the ones heading there?

and as a gift to Menachem (@escapepodcomics on twitter) I made this one:

Thanks for supporting the arts, and they are all under twenty bucks. affordable!

i was going to do guitar picks today as the diamonds, but Husband intervened, wait, I want that one, and that one, and...

so, maybe tomorrow--

item #39: new print LOTTERY WINNER announced.

two diamonds in one day, I'm getting ahead of myself for once...

Julia Grace was the first to respond and she won item #38- the free TRUE BLOOD books.

here is item #39:

I announced recently that one of the pre-sale purchasers for our new print would win a signed-by-Neil print in a lottery drawing.

we are in the treehouse now, happily embossing and rolling the I WILL WRITE IN WORDS OF FIRE Valentine prints with the glorious David Mack artwork and I drew the name of the winner just now.

A signed print will go to Miss Monica Rocha- a longtime Neverwear supporter.

I was happy to see her name in my little paw, she's been with us since the beginning of Neverwear.

Monica will get her choice of ANY of the prints in stock that Neil has already signed, OR she can wait and get her FIRE print signed by @Neilhimself when next I see our traveling author, maybe another month or so.

Monica, please let me know your choice: neverwear@gaiman.net

Thanks for all the support on this print, happy to be able write a nice check for the Gaiman Foundation, which you can(& should) follow on twitter HERE.

I will see Mister David Mack soon, and have him sign some of these beautiful new prints, it is a really different look, so much bigger and clearer, easier to read Neil's love letter that was etched on the skin of @Burtzor-

In related news, here is another beautiful tattoo of Neil's words, on the fair skin of Kate H, work done by Taylor Anne of Mystic Owl Tattoo.

tomorrow's diamond will be a cool ass collection of guitar picks...

item #38: three FREE books--TRUE BLOOD/Sookie Stackhouse series

item #38:

When I saw the first episode of HBO's TRUE BLOOD, I wasn't sold.

Still, part of my job is to keep current on popular culture and especially the new direction of television. I kept watching and soon, I got it. (although the last season really worked my nerves--)

My favorite character, of course, is Erik the Northman. (*last seen sunbathing in Sverige)

second runner up: Jason Stackhouse, I have giant respect for the Australian actor, Ryan Kwantan, who makes dumb look so delicious.

Oh wait, i LOVE Sam too.

Anyway, I was lucky enough to meet Charlaine Harris at World Fantasy, she was sweet as pie. I had nothing for her to sign at the time, so she signed Neil's panel name plate for me.

Offering these three books, I will pay the shipping *within the continental US of A. because I am nice.

first responder on the comments who wants them- gets them. (if you are overseas, i will need some $ postage)

item #37: a RARE tshirt from NEIL GAIMAN's 2005 ANANSI BOYS tour + more.

item #37: this is a vintage tee from the promotional tour Neil Gaiman did for his fabulous tale ANANSI BOYS. I say vintage because already! 2005 is NINE years ago!

ANANSI BOYS debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, I remember we were all screaming on my tour when we heard (i was out w/Motley Crue at the time)

It also went on to win a Locus Award and the British Fantasy award. (& probably more, but onward)

Now it is being made into a miniseries by RED Productions for the BBC

!!!

Ah, Fat Charlie and Mr. Nancy...my favorite will always be poor Tiger. Cannot WAIT to see who plays Graham Coates, that classic new-style scoundrel.

This tshirt is from the Toronto stop. It is 100% cotton in size unisex L, a fairly roomy L at that. NEVER BEEN WORN.

Also included in this auction:

a MP3 CD ROM of Lenny Henry narrating the book-- very delightfully, I might add.

a signed-by-Neil-Gaiman (in silver sharpie) ANANSI BOYS bookmark. If you haven't read the book, the lime may puzzle you.

CLICK HERE FOR THE AUCTION LINK.

ALL PROCEEDS FROM THIS AUCTION WILL BENEFIT THE GAIMAN FOUNDATION.

Neil and his daughter Holly have established...wait, I'll let Neil's words from his recent journal entry do the talking:

The Gaiman Foundation is a small family foundation which supports freedom of speech, literacy and education causes, and generally does good. I'm planning to sign and auction off a LOT of rare and unlikely stuff from my attic and basement for the Gaiman Foundation over the next couple of years.

me again, as always, my auctions start at 99 cents.

The auctions mentioned above may have some reserves and higher starting points, because there will be some RARE gems coming up from Neil's secret laboratory.

Stay tuned and we will find out together.

ps. Neil's reading of GREEN EGGS AND HAM is fast approaching the 400,000 view mark-- what a doll he was to do this. WATCH IT HERE!

as ever, thanks for following my swallowing diamonds project...

item #36: TORI AMOS double plus good tour memories.

item #36:

Oh, the wonderful memories from this tour-

This is the Tori Amos crew jacket from the 2002-2003 US tour for Scarlet's Walk, all hand made in England.

This is a navy blue pullover, very soft fleece hoodie, supertoasty warm.

Has hand-sewn patches on the back, front and sleeve. The rough sewing is on purpose, meant to be like that, all our jackets had variants...

EBAY LINK IS HERE.

I will throw in a Scarlet's Walk DVD complete with stickers, Scarlet's map, lyric chest, postcards-- just missing the music CD in it, someone made off with that--but you probably already have the music, if NOT, you best get to finding it, friends.

For "Amber Waves" alone, get that album! That was my decompression song forever.

That tour was magic-- I couldn't easily find photos from it, but there's one from T's bday- a couple tours later.

Good homes only, because man, I loved this deep blue hoody.

Swallowing diamonds means cutting throats sometimes.

(item #36 in the project, one thing a day out of our little over-stuffed treehouse!)

as always auction starts at 99 cents, but sorry, I can't offer this one for overseas shipping. I have already under-estimated most of my shipping costs (and i ship ALL the time, doh!) and shipping overseas is no guarantee of arrival- at big heavy cost.

proceeds from this auction will benefit the good cats of AVALO SANCTUARY. That's where my friend KING LEAR now resides.

ALSO, i put another one of the Neil mugs up for bids.

CLICK HERE FOR EBAY LINK.

I am finding ALL kinds of treasure in the treehouse archives. stay tuned!

item #35: a flat of Austrian crystal heart charms PLUS loads of charms/beads

item #35: So, it seems the bead lots are making people happy, I get SO much email about them. Offers to buy all my beads outright, etc.

but...Nah, not yet, this way is more fun for me, i get to go down memory lane with these bead buddies.

PROCEEDS FROM THIS AUCTION WILL BENEFIT VALLEY OF THE KINGS where the mighty tigers Obie and Socrates live! A big cat sanctuary in Wisconsin. (*many other exotic animals live there too)

here we are, marveling at the beauty that is the tiger. The VOTK always needs funds to keep up with the food supply, especially in wintertime...

so, back to the beads:I put myself through college by making jewelry, thank goodness as now, I have no student loans!

The upshot is that I have LOADS of beads to get rid of, as I just don't have time to make the jewels so much these days.

From my travels, I have picked up charms and beads at flea markets, vintage shops, thrift shops, yard sales, bead shops, the world wide.

Some pieces I can't recall where I got, but I have made a little list to describe as best as I can.

as always, the auction starts at 99 cents.

CLICK HERE FOR THE EBAY LINK.

here's what's in this auction: 16 Austrian crystal (Swarovski brand) drilled hearts, in the Aurora Borealis finish, that gives them that golden rainbow shimmer. These are expensive, and drilled through the middle for making jewelry.

plus all these charms:

2 x stretchy rhinestone bead bracelets, you can take these apart for the pieces.

4 x moss agate tube beads

4 x gold tone angel charms

cat charms

1 x vintage crown charm

1 bag stuffed with letter beads

the world's teeniest cowbell

assorted filigree findings for earrings or pendants

1 x black onyx star bead

2 small yak bone beads carved into skulls

a wish bone for fairies

a star in gold tone

assorted moon and star charms

a pile of silver rings, findings.

Sorry overseas friends, I am only shipping in the United States, because I can't replace these if something happens in the post.

any questions, lay em on me.

I will work anything out with anyone, I am one of the ebay good guys!

one more day left on this adorable lil' Batman flash drive from Japan, and it's only at 5 bucks. I paid well over $40. Bargain alert!

CLICK HERE FOR AUCTION

Tonight I am hanging out with mister Roman Dirge, so I will have to do the lottery drawing from the presages of the David Mack print tomorrow. Winner will get a signed-by-Neil print! See, good things happen when you hang out over here.

item 33 and 34: Treasure hunt plus *lottery.

I just got back from a wintery NYC.

Soon, i'll do a little account of my job with the Black Keys over on my furry tiger road blog. What a blast we had! Howard Stern's birthday party and then a show at Roseland....all during the SuperBowl weekend.

item #33: three for #33... (It's not so easy now that it's the second month of my "swallowing diamonds" project and the items no longer correspond with the actual date...)

one of three free pens left on the street in NYC!

I twittered their locations in photos... SuperKate, Amanda's heroic assistant even hid one for me.

pen 2:

pen 3:

her photo:

also the key of your dreams is hidden now in here...the most BEAUTIFUL bar in NYC.

item #34: FREE to good home!

WIN this chalkboard slate by telling me your favorite movie and why... post in the comments, if problems posting (why I don't know) email me: neverwear@gaiman.net

The fabulous Chloe won the Neil-card, with her creative suggestions on writing & distractions. Thanks, girl!

what else? OH!

It's down to the last few hours of the sale price for our DAVID MACK/NEIL GAIMAN Valentine print that is etched upon the skin...

Read Neil's account of it HERE(& watch his GREEN EGGS & HAM reading that is tearing up the inter webs...)

It's up 'til tonight at midnight PST at the $25.00 price, then it'll go up to $38.00-- save yourself a little cashola!

*ALL PRESALE ORDERS WILL BE ENTERED IN A LOTTERY TO WIN A SIGNED-BY-NEIL PRINT.

CLICK HERE TO GET TO THE PRINT.

item #26: Neil gives some doodle love for Gillian Anderson's charity-

Still sick in the treehouse, but on the mend.

For the last several years, that do-gooding human, Mr. Neil Gaiman has donated a doodle or two to the Gillian Anderson (aka X-Files' Scully) charity auction for the Neurofibromatosis Network.

We have blogged about it every year, and I have also participated. It's so much fun!

I had Neil doodle inside one of our tour book itineraries from last summer's grueling but wonderful OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE tour. Check out the Cthulu clown shoes!

He also signed the cover.

For my donation, I made one of my "glass candy bar" pieces from Sandman, issue #73, out in Dec. 1995. Death as drawn by the mighty Michael Zulli. When Neil was here last week, I asked him to sign it for me, to up the value. It's a beauty!

So these two items will be going up for auction in May of this year, I will keep you posted. These count as Swallowing Diamonds items, because they are leaving the house!

I will be bidding on Barbara Eden's i-dream-of-Jeannie bottle sketch. I want that one!

there are things from Stan Lee, Malcolm McDowell, The Walking Dead cast, and of course, that dreamy David Duchovny ("why don't you love me, David Duchovny..")

here is a video of Neil, Benedict Cumberbatch and Gillian at Letters Live doing some auctioning- Nick Cave was also there that night, WHY was i not??

Alert!! TWO HOURS LEFT ON THE AMERICAN GODS NEIL HOUSE ON THE ROCK PACK. click here to see about winning.

winner of item #24: miss Helen Hedberg, for her tiger-themed music suggestion. Nicely done!

LATE! item #22, 23, 24 and 25 in my swallowing diamonds project.

Neil was in town this week, so great to see that bearded wonder. However, I was derailed by work and sick so am behind on the one-thing-a-day out of the treehouse project i have engaged with myself to do aka SWALLOWING DIAMONDS.

here is Neil reading his beautiful collection of COMIX BOOK from Mr. Denis Kitchen of Kitchen Sink Books, back in action under the Dark Horse roof.

item #22:

the item #21: the glass kitty cat must not have been found by a swallowing diamonds reader, because no one sent in a photo, so I am giving the GOLDFISH POOL print by David Mack to faithful twitterer @Mattncoley who has been my cheerleader for awhile. He (they) have encouraged me in the project and spread the word. i call it karma- enjoy, Matt n' Nicole w/my thanks!

item #23:

another one of the Neil Gaiman quote mugs is back on ebay: CLICK here, it's got ONE MORE DAY.

comes with 4 Chinese New Year chocolate dragon coins...go and bid, right now, it's only a measly 5 bucks.

item #24:

FREE! this lovely musical tribute to Neil: with tracks by Ego Likeness, Tori Amos and that hotty Voltaire. just put in the comments, some new (or old) music you are listening to, that i might like.

I really need some new music.

item #25: a two part GODSMACK tour swag package over on EBAY, click here.

My first tour was the mighty Boston-based Godsmack on a bill with the Deftones back in 2001.

We were out on 9/11 and that brought about the end of our tour.

Am putting up for auction a two-pack of embroidered goodness:

1. a 2001 tour swag shoulder bag with about a zillion pockets, never used.

2. a Dickies-brand work jacket with two pockets and two lovely embroidered logos, this one was from the 2006 tour Godsmack/Rob Zombie. it is a size small, and I wore it proudly.

Sully! What a sweetheart. I believe in a voice like that. One of my favorite tours, and in fact, the tour I met my beloved roadie husband and dear friend Red.

i'll throw in an old pass and setlist if i can find...

this auction is only available in the States, because it's going be a heavy send. starts at 99 cents, as all my auctions will.

(sorry the photos look so crappy, i need to learn to photograph clothing items)

as always, thanks for playing.

item #21: FREE glass cat (treasure hunt in LA) + David Mack Goldfish Pool print.

Item #21 is a two parter.

hidden (in plain sight) in the courtyard of the CoffeeBean in the 90027 zip, is this glass kitty cat.

Free to any human that finds it.

note: actual cats NOT included.

this cat with a goldfish in his/her belly is very heavy & quite beautiful. The treehouse is just no longer the right home for him/her, so go and find!

if someone reading this DOES finds it, and sends me a photo of it, I will send this person a free signed-by-David-Mack limited edition print of Neil's brilliant coming-to-Hollywood story GOLDFISH POOL.

If you haven't read it, it is in the SMOKE & MIRRORS collection of short stories, and one of my favorite Neil Gaiman tales, ever.

here is a photo of David signing the prints for me.

here is David at ComicCon this last summer, what a cool cat he is.

to find out more about this limited edition print, CLICK HERE. We've got them signed by Neil as well.

having fun with the Swallowing Diamonds project, stay tuned for more action. Going to NYC next week and will be hiding things there too-- **Tomorrow will be some Boston-based tour swag.

item #19: FREE! all the way from Japan...

Last year, my forever dream of visiting Japan came true. I shall always love the Slipknot camp for taking me there.

definitely some cool cats on that team, and it's great music to clean your house to.

I fell in love with the terrific attention to detail and the turn of phrase that the translation from Japanese to English often brought. I studied Mandarin in college but that sure didn't help me here...

Everything looked bright and new to me. I brought back so many little presents.

The food was, bar none, my favorite of the world, even down to the crazy convenience store eggs, cooked EXACTLY like I like them, I can't wait to go back.

is my visa still good?

to the person who tells me their favorite food of the world, in the comments, I will send this little Japanese note pad, which includes this quote of perfection:

How many do you know the beautiful language which conveys a feeling?

and I'll throw in a free Neverwear pen:

tomorrow: item #20 will be from HOUSE ON THE ROCK, for all my fellow American Gods fans....stay tuned!

ps. WINNER OF Item # 18: Donielle Gross, for every time I watch WORKING GIRL and wonder why have I never ridden that ferry-- thanks, girl! message me your address--